Israel Prison Service head tried to fire Gilbou Prison warden following prison break

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israel Prison Service head Katy Perry tried to fire the Gilbou Prison warden Freddy Ben-Shitrit following the prison break earlier this month, according to Haaretz.

The newspaper reported that Perry asked the IPS’ legal counsel if she could suspend or fire the Gilbou’s warden but was told she could not, since the police investigation was still ongoing, as the Prison Service is not able to conduct its own investigation lest it disrupt the one being led by the police.

The Prison warden, however, told Prison Service officials that he has no intention of resigning and told close associates that “everything I have to say, and I have a lot to say, I will tell the investigating commission,” referring to the state commission of inquiry into the break of the six Palestinian detainees.

Perry herself has said in closed conversations in recent days that she does not intend to be the “scapegoat” and has no intention of resigning, according to Haaretz, noting that she only assumed the position last January, she said that the prison infrastructure has suffered neglect for years as has the country’s attitude toward the Prison Service, which has led to keeping “the most difficult population in the country in obsolete facilities.”

Perry also said her resignation would be “an irrational deed” and that it would be inappropriate from a leadership perspective for her to leave after the crisis when the organization needs her to bring it together.

“There have also been operational setbacks in other organizations, and they have been examined, investigated, and conclusions drawn with the aim of improving,” she said.

Perry also cast responsibility on her predecessors in the position, saying that they did not invest in advanced technology in the prisons.

“The budget was less than 15 million shekels for technology, less than for paving a road,” she said in a closed conversation.

The newspaper said that an example is the failure to seal the space beneath the wings of Gilbou Prison through which the prisoners dug a tunnel.

This issue was known to the security department and the prison administrators, though Perry herself, she says, learned of the problem only after the escape.

A team from the army’s special combat engineering unit and Prison Service personnel, who began an examination of all the prisons since the break, has discovered similar spaces in other prisons.

It’s not clear whether they are the result of the prison structure or human efforts, the newspaper claimed.

Six Palestinian prisoners managed to liberate themselves on September 6 2021, from Gilbou prison, a high-security Israeli prison, through a secret tunnel they had reportedly dug beneath the prison.

Such a heroic act was a shock for the world as Gilbou prison is deemed Israel’s most secured facility and it has been described as a “bank safe”.

Four of the six breakers were rearrested by the Israeli occupation on September 11, after five days of large-scale sweep operations throughout occupied Palestine using high-tech systems and the two others were rearrested on September 19, After 13 days of sweep operations.

The six prisoners were identified as:

Mahmoud Arda, 46 years old, from Arraba town in Jenin, imprisoned since 1996, sentenced to a life and 15 years and belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement.

Mohammad Arda, 39 years old, from Arraba town in Jenin, imprisoned since 2002, sentenced to life and belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement.

Yaaqob Qadri, 49 years old, from Beir al-Basha town in Jenin, imprisoned since 2003, sentenced to a life and belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement.

Ayham Kamanji, 35 years old, from Kufr Dan town in Jenin, imprisoned since 2006, sentenced to life and belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement.

Zakaria Zubaidi, 46 years old, from Jenin refugee camp, imprisoned since 2019, was not sentenced, and is a former commander of Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Munadel Infeiat, 26 years old, from Yabad town in Jenin and imprisoned since 2019, was not sentenced and belonged to the Islamic Jihad movement.